New York, Feb 20, 2026, 10:11 EST — Regular session
Microsoft was down around 0.3% at $397.29 early Friday, while Invesco QQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, managed a small gain. SPY, the S&P 500 ETF, dipped a bit.
The stock’s turned into a real-time gauge for what investors will shell out on cloud and AI expansion—even as data center, chip, and power costs keep ratcheting up. Positioning’s tight, so even minor signals are echoing louder than usual.
Microsoft has been slipping along with a deeper divide among the tech giants. Shares had dropped more than 17% in 2026 through Thursday’s close. Amazon, meanwhile, was down 11%, as investors stayed cautious ahead of fresh AI demand data. “It’s kind of a perplexing market,” said Marta Norton, chief investment strategist at Empower. Looking ahead, “Next week is going to be pretty important for software,” added King Lip, chief strategist at BakerAvenue Wealth Management. Reuters
Microsoft board member John W. Stanton picked up 5,000 shares on Feb. 18, paying $397.35 apiece, according to a U.S. securities filing. The Form 4 shows Stanton directly held 83,905 shares after the purchase, with another 3,622 shares held indirectly via a family trust.
Shares of Microsoft went ex-dividend on Thursday, making new buyers ineligible for the company’s next quarterly payout. Microsoft set the dividend at $0.91 per share, to be paid out on March 12 to those holding shares as of Feb. 19.
AI’s electricity appetite is front and center in company news this week. Microsoft has locked in contracts for 40 gigawatts of fresh renewable energy—19 gigawatts are already up and running on the grid. “As we continue to grow we want to maintain that 100%,” said Noelle Walsh, who heads Microsoft Cloud Operations and Innovation. Reuters
Microsoft pushed back on concerns raised by a Guardian story, saying in Washington that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement isn’t using Azure for mass civilian surveillance. “Microsoft policies and terms of service do not allow our technology to be used for the mass surveillance of civilians,” a spokesperson told reporters. Reuters
No lift for risk appetite from the macro side early on. The U.S. GDP print landed at a 1.4% annualized pace for the fourth quarter, and December’s PCE price index — the Fed’s go-to inflation measure — moved up 0.4%. Core PCE matched that, climbing 0.4% as well.
Still, an insider’s buy won’t do much if investors start to worry that the AI expansion is eating into margins more quickly than it’s helping revenue. Disappointing data-center demand or another move in rate-sensitive tech might be enough to keep Microsoft stuck where it is.
Nvidia’s quarterly results, set for Wednesday, Feb. 25, are up next—a closely watched test for AI-driven sentiment in both chips and the wider cloud supply chain. The company will hold its earnings call at 2 p.m. PT, or 5 p.m. ET.
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